Friday, October 13, 2006

Temple Mount: No Status Quo

Muslim officials are proceeding with plans to construct a minaret on the Temple Mount. This minaret will be located near the Golden Gate (arrow in photo above) and will be the tallest minaret in the complex at 134 feet (42 m) high. This will be the first minaret constructed in 639 years, as the other four (circled in photo above) were built between 1278 and 1367. The prayer tower will be Jordanian in style and will cost approximately $700,000.

Such a construction is a violation of the principle of status quo of disputed holy sites in Israel, and almost certainly will be built without any archaeological supervision. It is ironic that if one wants to build a cottage in a remote part of Israel and antiquities are present, then an excavation must take place. But if one wants to construct on one of the most important sites in the Holy Land, there are no such requirements.

mdiv - The law includes the Temple Mount, but because of politics, the Israeli legislators ignore it when they choose to. The Muslims have control of religious functions on the Temple Mount, but they can't build without Israeli permission (or a blind eye). The official Israeli policy is status quo - so the way things were before they took over (in either 1948 or 1967 depending on the area) is the way that things are to continue.